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Carlos III of Spain
'Carlos III of Spain '(20 January 1716-14 December 1788) was the king of Spain (1759-1788), King of Naples (1734-1759), and Duke of Parma (1731-1734), succeeding Fernando VI of Spain and preceding Carlos IV of Spain. He was a proponent of Enlightenment and attempted to reform the collapsing Spanish Empire, while also acting as ruler of the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Parma in Italy. He fought Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, acquiring British West Florida and some Caribbean territories. Biography Carlos was the fifth son of Felipe V of Spain and the first child of Elisabeth Farnese, his second wife. Because of his Parmese descent, he became the Duke of Parma in 1731, and when Spain was engaged in the War of the Polish Succession in the 1730s, Carlos conquered Naples & Sicily from Austria. However, in the peace treaty he had to forfeit Parma to Austria, but he controlled southern Italy by the terms. In 1738, Carlos married Maria Amalia of Saxony, having thirteen children with her (only eight survived adulthood). When his brother Fernando VI of Spain died in 1759, Carlos III became the new Spanish monarch and ruled over the large empire in Europe, northern Africa, and the Americas. An enlightened despot, he gave control of Naples and Sicily to his sons Ferdinando and Ferdinand in 1759. During his reign, he increased Spain's investments in the arts, sciences, military, religion, and technology in hopes of stopping the Spanish Empire's decay. Carlos III declared war on Great Britain in 1762 during the Seven Years' War with little fighting on land; the main theatre of war was at sea. As a part of the peace in 1763, Carlos III gained control of French Louisiana, which encompassed a third of the present-day United States and a fourth of all of North America. Louisiana made Spanish settlers rich in the fur trade; however, he lost West Florida to Britain. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Carlos III initially traded with the Americans, but after inspirational American victories against British loyalists, Carlos III declared war on Britain in 1779. His goal was to capture British possessions in the Caribbean and the city of Gibraltar in southern Spain. From 1779 to 1782, French and Spanish forces laid siege to Gibraltar without success, and the Allies were forced to retreat from their siege after three years of heavy fighting. Carlos III also waged war with neighboring Portugal, an ally of Britain, and gained control of many lands in the Amazon. When peace was brokered for both conflicts in 1783, Carlos III gained West Florida and repulsed British attacks in Central America. At the end of his reign, Spain was in amazing shape, having reformed their empire and added more lands to it. However, Carlos III's death in 1788 caused Spain to decline again. His son Carlos IV of Spain succeeded him. Category:Spanish Category:Kings Category:Spanish kings Category:Parmese Category:Parmese dukes Category:Italians Category:Neapolitans Category:Neapolitan kings Category:Sicilian kings Category:Sicilians Category:Bourbon Category:1716 births Category:1788 deaths Category:Catholics Category:Spanish liberals Category:Liberals